LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 042 454 7 




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Q/> ^^ISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 345 

man in Boston. In 1706 he was elected to the General Court, on which oc- 
casion Samuel Adams remarked that the town had done a wise thing, for it 
had made that young man's fortune its own. And so it turned out, for Hancock 
spared not his money in the interest of the people. " Burn Boston and make 
John Hancock a beggar," he once exclaimed, " if the public good requires it." 

Prominent among the opponents of British aggressions, Hancock, who 
with Samuel Adams had sought refuge at Lexington, escaped capture at 
that place by a timely flight just before the battle. He was saved to be- 
come president of the Continental Congress in IVZS, and as such he first 
affixed his bold signature to the Declaration of Independence. Having 
resigned his seat in Congress in consequence of ill health, we next find him 
a member of the Cambridge Convention for the formation of a state Con- 
stitution (1780), and chosen the first governor of the commonwealth under 
that instrument. His executive talents and political sagacity made him a 
popular governor, and with the exception of Gov. Bowdoin's two terms 
(1'785, 1786) he held the position till his death. 

To Hancock chiefly is due the ratification of the Federal Constitution 
by Massachusetts. It had been accepted by only five states when it came 
before the Massachusetts convention called to consider it. The action of 
this body, it was supposed, would largely influence that of other states, 
perhaps decide the fate of the instrument ; and so strong was the oppo- 
sition party, including Hancock and Samuel Adams, that the federalist 
leaders trembled with anxiety. Finally Hancock, whom an attack of gout 
had kept from the House, appeared with certain " Conciliatory Resolutions," 
providing among other things that the right of jury trial should be secured 
to the people, and that all powers not delegated to Congress are reserved 
to the several states — provisions afterward embodied in Amendments to 
the Constitution (Arts. VI., X., p. 821). These resolutions- were supported 
by their mover in an effective speech, and the Constitution was ratified by a 
small majority, Hancock and Samuel Adams both voting for it. 

Joseph Warren. — Warren's life was short but glorious. Born at 
Boxbury in 1741 and educated at Harvard, he began the practice of medi- 
cine at Boston, and soon rose to the front rank of his profession. His du- 
ties as a practitioner, however, did not prevent him from taking a deep 
interest in public affairs, and Ave find him laboring zealously along with 
Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other true-hearted friends of liberty. With 
the two just named, he belonged to that famous Caucus Club * which met in 



* Probably a corruption for caWers' club, as having been originally made up of 
calkers, rope-makers, and ship-builders. Hence our modern term caucus, signifying a 
preliminary party meeting for the purpose of agreeing on a candidate or deciding on 
some important measure. 



/^7? 



34:6 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

a garret but made itself felt even in the royal cabinet. His orations on 
anniversaries of the Boston Massacre (1772, 1775) proved that he possessed 
more than ordinary powers of eloquence, as well as the cour.agc to use them. 

Chosen president of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in Han- 
cock's absence (p. 13-1) and chairman of the Committee of Safety, it was 
Warren that penetrated Gage's design, and sent forth the alarm by Paul 
Revere on the eve of Lexington and Concord ; nor during the return of the 
enemy could he refrain from seizing a musket himself and joining in the 
fray. The roar of the British cannon wooed him to Bunker Hill ; and in 
spite of illness which might have excused his absence he hastened across 
Charlestown Neck, refused the command, saying he had come to learn, and 
fought gallantly as a volunteer. As he was leaving the redoubt among the 
last, he received a bullet in the forehead — discharged, it is said, by a British 
officer who recognized him. Thus perished one of the first and noblest of 
the Revolutionary martyrs, realizing in his own person the truth of the 
sentiment which he had quoted to a friend the preceding night, " It is sweet 
and becoming to die for one's country." 

John Adams is another whose memory his state delights to honor. 
He has been mentioned in the preceding pages as the first vice-president 
and second president of the United States ; some additional particulars of 
his life may here be given. He was born in Braintree (Quincy), Mass., in 
1735, received a thorough course at Harvard,* and began life as a school- 
master at Worcester. Here, also, he studied law. Admitted to the bar, he 
finally settled in Boston, where he obtained an extensive practice. In 1764 
he married the granddaughter of Col. Quincy, a lady of superior accom- 
plishments ; in the letters that passed between them we have a storehouse 
of valuable information respecting the events and personages of the period. 

An intrepid but not violent advocate of the popular cause, Mr. Adams, 
with Josiah Quincy, defended the soldiers concerned in the Boston Massacre 
(p. 130), Robert Treat Paine conducting the prosecution ; and, though he thus 
added nothing to his popularity, he was immediately afterward elected a 
member of the General Court. He was next sent to the Continental Con- 
gress, of which body he soon became an acknowledged leader. He was 
chairman of the Board of War and of twenty-five congressional commit- 
tees, and was declared by Jefferson to be the ablest champion of indepen- 
dence on the floor of the house. Both before and after the close of the 
war, he sci-ved his country in the most responsible diplomatic positions. 
Mr. Adams was a federalist, and supported Washington's policy by twenty 
casting votes as presiding officer of the Senate. 

• It sppalCR well for the tralnlnff of Harvard that 6o many of the early patriots were 
amoog lt« graduates. 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 347 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

The Revolutionary Period. — At the commencement of 
the Revolution, Massachusetts had a population of about 
350,000. When the struggle began on her soil, her pa- 
triots shrunk not from their full share of its trials. Of the 
15,000 men that soon gathered in camp at Cambridge, 9,000 
were from Massachusetts. Artemas Ward, their command- 
er, was the first major-general selected for the Continental 
army. 

Three of the first brigadiers appointed by Congress were 
also from Massachusetts : Dr. John Thomas, who seized and 
fortified Dorchester Heights when it was determined to dis- 
lodge Gen. Howe — William Heath, early trained in the 
*' Ancient and Honorable Artillery " of Boston, the oldest 
military organization in America — and Seth Pomroy, of 
Northampton. Of the last named it is told that, when the 
British cannon opened the battle of Bunker Hill, he bor- 
rowed Gen. Ward's horse, and seizing a gun galloped off to 
the scene of action. Arriving at Charlestown Neck, which 
was swept by a heavy fire, he was more afraid to risk the 
general's property than his own person. So he delivered 
the horse to a sentry, and shouldering his musket marched 
afoot to the rail fence, where he participated in the hottest 
of the fight. 

The business interests of the state — the fisheries, the 
coasting-trade, and foreign commerce — all of course suffered 
greatly during the war. Her soil was indeed left mostly 
unmolested by the enemy after the evacuation of Boston, 
yet many of her sons shed their blood freely on the Revolu- 
'tionary battle-fields. Massachusetts furnished to the Con- 
tinental army 67,000 of the 231,000 soldiers brought into 
the field during the struggle for independence. 

The State Constitution. — Shortly after Massachusetts re- 



348 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

pudiated the authority of Governor Gage, representatives 
chosen by the people assembled at Watertown, and there 
elected councillors to exercise the executive power before 
lodged in the governor. The necessity of a more efficient 
government being felt, a Constitution was drafted by a con- 
vention of delegates and in 1780 adopted by the popular 
vote. This was the basis of the present Constitution. The 
bill of rights prefixed to this instrument virtually abolished 
slavery, according to a decision of the highest state court 
in 1783. 

Shays's Kebellion. — Massachusetts gave so freely of her 
men and means during the war that at its termination 
she was worse oflF than most of her sister states. More 
than 8,000 of her citizens had fallen ; her industries were 
paralyzed, and all classes staggered under a heavy burden 
of debt. Discontent arose, which in 1786 culminated in 
open insurrection. The courts of law were special objects 
of aversion to the disaflfected, and their sessions were inter- 
fered with or prevented at Northampton, Worcester, and 
Springfield, by armed insurgents, headed by one Daniel 
Shays. Gov. Bowdoin felt obliged to call out the militia, 
and placed it under Gen. Lincoln, of Revolutionary fame.* 
After some preliminary movements, Lincoln, early in 1787, 
surprised the main body of rebels at Petersham, by a mem- 
orable night march of thirty miles through the snow. A 



* Benjamin Lincoln, born at Hingham in 1733, was a well-to-do farmer when the 
troubles with Great Britain broke out. After serving in several public capacities, he was 
made a major-general, joined Washington shortly after the battle of Long Island, was 
sent to the north at the time of Burgoyne's campaign, succeeded in severing that gen- 
eral's communications on Lake George, and was severely wounded in the leg just before 
his surrender. Entrusted with the management of the southern campaign in 1779 (p. 
173), he failed in an attempt to retake Savannah and lost Charleston, but not from lack 
of skill or courage. He had the command of the northern army during its rapid march 
to Yorktown, and received the sword of Cornwallis at the surrender. In 1781 Congress 
placed him at the head of the war department. Gen. Lincoln supported the Federal Con- 
stitution, and as a federalist was elected lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts (1788). In 
1789 he was appointed by Washington collector of the port of Boston— a lucrative posi- 
tion, which he held for nearly twenty years. He died at the age of seventy-seven. 



MASSACHTJSETTS. 349 

hundred and fifty rebels were captured, and the rest dis- 
persed. 

Williams College. — This trouble over, prosperity gradu- 
ally returned ; commerce and manufactures revived, and 
judicious laws were passed for their protection, as well as 
for the promotion of education. Williams College was in- 
corporated in 1793, and the western part of the state was 
thus provided with facilities for higher education. This 
institution grew out of a free school which was opened in 
Williamstown in 1791, and which owed its origin to a be- 
quest of Col. Ephraim Williams* made thirty-six years be- 
fore. 

Fisher Ames. — In politics Massachusetts inclined for the 
most part to the federalists. Among her prominent states- 
men belonging to this party was Fisher Ames (1758-1808), 
whose orations, letters, and political essays rank him high 
among the literary men of his period. Beginning the prac- 
tice of law at Dedham, his native place, he was soon drawn 
into public life, and by his eloquence helped to secure the 
ratification of the Federal Constitution. Throughout Wash- 
ington's administration he represented his district in Con- 
gress, in which body he was recognized as one of the most 
finished orators. A memorable speech of his was made in 
advocacy of Jay's treaty with Great Britain, so violently 
opposed in many quarters. On his conclusion the House 
adjourned without taking a vote, lest its action might be 
unduly affected by his eloquence. Two days afterward the 
treaty was ratified by a close vote. 



* Col. Williams was a native of Newton. He served in King George's War, and 
afterward commanded the line of border forts west of the Connecticut Kiver. In the 
French and Indian War he led a regiment to the support of Sir "William Johnson, and 
feehng a presentiment of his fate, while halting at Albany, he executed a will in which he 
devoted his property to the maintenance of a free school in a town to be named from him- 
self Williamstown, west of Fort Massachusetts. On the approach of Dieskau (p. 116) 
Col. Williams was sent out to reconnoitre, and falling into an ambuscade of French and 
Indians was slain. A monument has been erected to his memory by the alumni of 
Williams College, on the spot where he fell, near the head of Lake George. 



350 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Contemporaneous with Fisher Ames, but nine years his 
junior, was Timothy Bigelow, also an eminent lawyer and a 
federalist. In the course of his practice he is supposed to 
have argued ten thousand cases, besides serving twenty 
years in the state legislature, during eleven of which he was 
speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Political Affairs.— Under Gov. Sumner (1797-1799) and 
his successor Gov. Strong (1800-1807), both federalists, 
much of the public debt was paid, and internal improve- 
ments were carried forward. By 1808 political opinions had 
undergone a change, for we then find both the governor 
(James Sullivan) and legislature democratic. Elbridge Ger- 
ry, a native of Marblehead, one of the signers of the Decla- 
ration and a prominent democrat, was chosen governor in 
1810, and three years afterward was raised to the vice-presi- 
dency of the United States, having been elected for Madi- 
son's second term. 

When war with Great Britain was declared in 1812, the 
measure was violently denounced in Massachusetts as un- 
necessary and unwise. The state was even at one time 
charged, though unjustly, with disaffection and the design 
of forming with the other New England states an indepen- 
dent confederacy. Gov. Strong, who had been again elected 
by the federalists, refused to send the militia out of the state 
or to place them under federal officers ; but a great number 
of Massachusetts sailors enlisted in the navy. Commodore 
David Porter, who has been called the Paul Jones of the 
second war by reason of his exploits in the Essex, was a 
native of Boston. — The return of peace in 1815 extinguished 
the violence of party spirit, and removed the gloom that had 
settled on most of the industries of the state. 

Administration of Gov. Brooks. — Gov. Strong was suc- 
ceeded in 1816 by Gen. John Brooks, an old soldier of the 
Revolution, who held the office of governor till 1823. Dur- 
ing his administration, manufactures, particularly of cotton 



MASSACHUSETTS. 351 

and woollen goods, largely increased — Maine was set off, with 
the consent of the commonwealth — and the state Constitu- 
tion was revised and amended. It was again amended in 
1857, at which time the district system of choosing state 
senators and representatives was adopted. — In 1821, Am- 
herst College was founded. 

John Uuincy Adams, already noticed as president of the 
United States (1825-1829— p. 236), was in the front rank of 
Massachusetts statesmen. He was born in Braintree in 1767, 
and studied law with the eminent Theophilus Parsons.* 
Soon after the expiration of his presidential term he was 
elected to the House of Representatives, and for seventeen 
years he remained a member of that body. He was a free- 
soil whig, and distinguished himself by his defence, of the 
right of petition and his uncompromising opposition to 
slavery. Petition after petition he presented for the aboli- 
tion of this institution (some days as many as two hundred), 
despite a rule of the House that no petition on the subject 
should be read, printed, or debated, A close reasoner and 
fervid speaker, he is often alluded to as " the old man elo- 
quent". Mr. Adams died in harness (Feb. 23, 1848), having 
been stricken with paralysis while in his seat in the house. 
His dying words were, " This is the last of earth — I am con- 
tent ! " — His son, Charles Francis Adams, born in Boston in 
1807, was U. S. minister to Great Britain during the Civil 



* Theophilfs Paesons, a man of the highest legal attainmeBts, was born in Essex 
County, Mass. Admitted to the bar in 1774, he was for a time a resident of Newbury- 
port, but in 1800 removed to Boston. As a lawyer he had few equals. During the last 
seven years of his life (1806-1813), he was chief-justice of the Supreme Court of Massachu- 
setts. 

Younger by nearly thirty years than Mr. Parsons, but equally distinguished as a 
jurist, was Joseph Stoey, born in Marblehead in 1779. Deeply versed in law, after dis- 
charging several public trusts with marked ability, he was appointed by President Madi- 
son a justice of the Supreme Court of the U. 8.— the youngest man that had ever been 
called to that bench. In this responsible position, which he continued to hold for thirty- 
four years, he fully maintained his high reputation. His voluminous writings, consisting 
of commentaries, reviews, discourses, etc , have been pronounced of the highest order of 
merit. 



352 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

War, and discharged with great ability the important and 
delicate duties at that time connected with the station. 

Webster (1782-1852). — Conspicuous among those in 
whom New England takes most pride is Daniel Webster, who 
belonged to New Hampshire by birth, to Massachusetts by 
residence (from 1816). He was equally great as a jurist, a 
statesman, and an orator. The House of Representatives and 
the Senate of the United States were successively the scene 
of his brilliant parliamentary efforts, nor was he less able as 
a diplomatist when at the head of the cabinet under Harrison, 
Tyler, and Fillmore. Particularly celebrated were his ora- 
tion on laying the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monu- 
ment (1825), his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson (1826), and 
his speeches on the Greek Revolution, in reply to Hayne of 
South Carolina, and against the sub-treasurj^ bill. 

Originally a federalist, Mr. Webster became a whig on 
the formation of that party. He favored the tariff of 1828, 
advocated renewing the charter of the U. S. Bank, voted 
against Clay's tariff bill at the time of the Nullification 
trouble but for his compromise measures in 1850, and op- 
posed the annexation of Texas. Having spent a useful life 
in the service of his country, though never rewarded with or 
even nominated for its highest office, the great " expounder 
of the Constitution," as he was fitly called, died at his home 
in Marshfield, at the ripe age of seventy. 

Other Distinguished Statesmen.— Webster's colleague in 
the U. S. Senate was for a time " honest John Davis," a 
native of Northborough. Mr. Davis was governor of Massa- 
chusetts in 1834, and again in 1841 and 1842. A consistent 
whig, he favored the manufacturing interests of the state by 
advocating a protective tariff. 

Worthy of special mention, also, are Rufus Choate, Ed- 
ward Everett, and Charles Sumner, all ornaments of the U. 
S. Senate. 

Choate (1799-1859) was one of the most effective plead- 



MASSACHUSETTS. 353 

ers in America. He had a natural gift of eloquence, a per- 
sonal magnetism, which gave him wonderful power whether 
speaking before a jury or in forensic debate. — Everett (1794- 
1865), besides serving his native state in both houses of 
Congress, was governor of Massachusetts from 1835 to 1839, 
during which time normal schools were established and 
educational interests generally promoted. He was also 
minister to Great Britain, president of Harvard University, 
and for a time secretary of state under Fillmore. — The dis- 
tinguishing feature of Sumner's political career was his de- 
termined opposition to slavery. — Robert C. Winthrop, the 
whig candidate for the U. S. Senate defeated in 1851 by Mr. 
Sumner, was for a number of years a distinguished member 
of the lower House. 

The Civil War found John A. Andrew (1818-1867— see 
engraving, p. 359) governor of Massachusetts. Devotedly 
attached to the Union, within a week after President Lin- 
coln's first call for troops he had five regiments in the field. 
His energetic support of the federal government at a time 
when it sorely needed support made " the war governor " 
extremely popular, and secured him a continuance of his 
office for five successive terms (1860-1865). 

Massachusetts showed unflinching loyalty throughout the 
trying struggle. She expended on account of the war 130,- 
000,000. She furnished to the army and navy 131,116 men, 
reduced to the three years' standard, and many distinguished 
officers — Butler, Banks, Devens, and others ; Gens. Hooker 
and Sumner belong to her by birth. Her senator, Henry 
Wilson, as chairman of the committee on military affairs, 
rendered invaluable service, which was recognized by his 
election to the vice-presidency of the United States, on the 
same ticket with Gen. Grant, in 1872. 

The patriotism of Massachusetts has indeed never slept. 
This has been made apparent in the recent centennial cele- 
brations of Revolutionary events. The love and gratitude 



354 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 



of later generations to their patriot sires have found expres- 
sion in many "votive stones," of which the statue of the 

Minute-man at Concord, 
erected April 19, 1875, 
is not the least nota- 
ble. 

Internal Improve- 
ments in later years have 
received great attention 
in Massachusetts. There 
is a network of about 
1,875 miles of railroad, 
w^hich, afibrding facilities 
for conveying material 
to the most eligible fac- 
tory-sites and for trans- 
porting the goods made 
to market at low rates, 
has greatly stimulated 
manufacturing industry. 
Lowell, Worcester, Fall 
River, Lawrence, Lynn, 
Taunton, and other flour- 
ishing cities, owe their 
prosperity and rapid growth mainly to manufactures. 

Education.— In the excellence of her educational institu- 
tions, Massachusetts is unsurpassed. From early times her 
public men made liberal provision for common schools, as 
well as for superior instruction ; and the effect is seen in the 
high intellectual character and moral tone of her people. 
For the thoroughness of her system, Massachusetts is per- 
haps more indebted to Horace Mann than to any other 
single person. Secretary of the state Board of Education 
for eleven years, he labored most intelligently and assidu- 
ously in behalf of this great interest. 




THE MINUTE-MAN, CONCORD. 



MASSACHIJSETTS. 355 

The principal institutions for higher instruction not al- 
ready mentioned are, the College of the Holy Cross, Wor- 
cester, founded in 1843 ; Tufts College, Medford (1855) ; 
Boston College (1863) and Boston University (1869) ; also 
two colleges for women, Smith College at Northampton, and 
Wellesley at Needham. 

Names Distinguished in Literature.— Partly perhaps ow- 
ing to the influence of Harvard, Boston has always been 
a great literary centre, and the state has been prolific of 
writers distinguished in every department of letters. Among 
these may be named, the poets Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, 
and Lowell ; the historians, Prescott, Bancroft, Motley, Hil- 
dreth, and Palfrey ; the essayists, Emerson, Whipple, and 
Channing (a native of Rhode Island) ; the critics, Ticknor 
and Tuckerman ; Bowditch, the mathematician ; Jared 
Sparks, the biographer ; Worcester, the lexicographer (born 
in New Hampshire) ; Hawthorne and Miss Sedgwick, the 
novelists ; the Danas, father and son ; and Wendell Phillips, 
the orator. Several of the scholarly presidents of Harvard, 
particularly Josiah Quincy, jr., Walker, Felton, and Eliot, 
have made themselves well known in the walks of literature. 

The names of Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing-ma- 
chine, and Mary Lyon, the founder of Mt. Holyoke Female 
Seminary, are worthy of remembrance. Nor must we forget 
that the princely merchants, Amos and Abbott Lawrence, 
ever forward in good works, belonged to Massachusetts ; 
or that the munificent philanthropist, George Peabody, was 
a native of that state. 



CONNECTICUT. 

Brother Jonathan. — The name of Jonathan Trumbull 
looms up with special prominence in the early history of 
Connecticut. He was born at Lebanon in 1710, was edu- 



356 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

cated for the ministry and entered on the duties of that 
profession, but soon exchanged it for mercantile life in con- 
nection with his father, who carried on an extensive trade 
with the old country and the West Indies. At the age of 
twenty-three he became a member of the General Assembly, 
and subsequently its speaker. Having ably filled several 
judicial positions, he was in 1769 elected governor, and re- 
tained that office till the end of the Revolution. A staunch 
advocate of liberty, he zealously cooperated with the Con- 
tinental Congress throughout the war. " Praised be the 
Lord ! " was the pious entry made in his diary when the 
news of the surrender at Yorktown reached him. 

Gov. Trumbull was the steadfast friend of Washington, 
who relied much on his advice. From a remark which 
Washington several times used with reference to him, "Let 
us hear what brother Jonathan says," the appellation Brother 
Jonathan came to be familiarly applied to the whole nation. 
After serving his country for half a century. Gov. Trumbull 
retired to private life universally esteemed.* 

Revolutionary Worthies. — During the Revolution, Con- 
necticut furnished more men to the Continental army in 
proportion to her population than any other colony. Her 
patriotism provoked the British from time to time to make 
raids upon her soil, for which her exposed coast and its 
proximity to New York afforded every facility. In repelling 
and making reprisals for these attacks many brave officers 
distinguished themselves — Gen. Wooster (who received a 
mortal wound in 1777, during the pursuit of Tryon from 
Danbury), Silliman, Huntington, Col. Meigs, and others. 

Gen. Spencer, one of the first brigadiers appointed by 
Congress, — Gen. Parsons, who from 1779 commanded the 

* The (listini^uished painter, John Trumbull, was a son of the governor, born in 
Lebanon in 1756. lie became a pupil of the celebrated West, and won fame by a series 
of historical paintings. Four of his pictures, including the " Resignation of Gen. Wash- 
ington at Annapolis," are in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington, but most of them 
adorn the art building of Tale College. 



CONNECTICUT. 357 

Connecticut line, — and Col. Knovvltcii, a meritorious officer 
who fell at Harlem Heights, — were all sons of Connecticut. 
Nor must we forget that gallant Nathan Hale, who, having 
volunteered to penetrate the British lines after the battle of 
Long Island in order to gain intelligence for Washington, 
was arrested and hanged as a spy, lamenting that he had 
but one life to lose for his country. Best known of all the 
Revolutionary leaders of Connecticut was that sturdy patriot 
Gen. Putnam, whom the offer of a handsome fortune and a 
commission as major-general in the British service could not 
tempt to abandon the cause of liberty.* 

Noted Statesmen. — Among the noted civilians of this 
period may be mentioned Roger Sherman and Oliver Wol- 
cott, both signers of the Declaration. The former, born in 
Newton, Mass., in 1721, was a self-taught man. He began 
life as a shoemaker's apprentice, but removing to Connecti- 
cut studied law, was called to the bench, and served his state 
in various public offices— at last as one of its representatives 
in the U. S. Senate. Mr. Wolcott was elected governor in 
1796. His son, Oliver Wolcott, was secretary of the treas- 



* Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Mass., in 1718, but removed to Pomfret, Conn., 
soon after his marriage. Brought up to farm-life, he early showed his strength and 
courage by drubbing a Boston boy a head taller than himself, who laughed at his rustic 
appearance when he was on a visit to that cit}'. lie was the hero of many adventures. 
At one time we find him descending into a cavern near Pomfret, and killing a wolf which 
had become the terror of the neighborhood : at another, leading his rangers in the French 
and Indian War, and shooting the formidable rapids of the Hudson to escape capture : 
anon, a prisoner of the savages, bound to the stake to be roasted ahve, and saved only 
by a French ofiicer's dashing aside the burning brands: and again, wrecked on a reef off 
the coast of Cuba, when Havana was taken by the British in 1762. 

After participating in various active movements in the Kevolution, Gen. Putnam waa 
ordered to Connecticut to superintend the raising of recruits. While he was visiting an 
outpost at Horseneck, Gov. Tryon, on one of his marauding incursions, approached the 
place. The enemy were too strong to be withstood; so the Americans made good their 
retreat, and Putnam, hotly pursued, saved himself by riding at breakneck speed down a 
precipitous descent by the roadside, the red-coats reining up in amazement on the 
summit. 

While on his way back to the army from a visit to his family. Gen. Putnam had a 
stroke of paralysis which terminated his active career, though he lived peacefully at 
Brooklyn, Conn., till 1790. His most conspicuous trait is set forth in the inscription on 
his tombstone : '• He dared to lead where any dared to follow." 



358 HISTORY OF KEW ENGLAND. 

ury under Washington and Adams, and also served as gov- 
ernor of his native state from 1817 to 1827. 

Oliver Ellsworth, a member of the Continental Congress, 
was another distinguished citizen of the commonwealth. 
He was a strong federalist and a firm supporter of Wash- 
ington, who in 1796 appointed him chief-justice of the 
United States. 

Important Events, — Shortly before the close of the Revo- 
lution, the question of jurisdiction over the valley of Wyo- 
ming, which had arisen between Pennsylvania and Connecti- 
cut, was decided by federal commissioners in favor of the 
former state. The valley had been settled by Connecticut 
men, and on this fact the commonwealth had based her 
claim. 

Four years later, Connecticut, along with other states, 
ceded her public lands in the West to the general govern- 
ment, retaining, however, about 3f millions of acres in Ohio 
near Lake Erie, which became known as " the Western Re- 
serve ". The proceeds of the sale of this land were appro- 
priated to the establishment of a common-school fund. 

In the convention that framed the federal Constitution, 
the Connecticut delegates — Roger Sherman, Oliver Ells- 
worth, and William S. Johnson — took a prominent part, 
often acting as peacemakers to reconcile opposing views. 
Connecticut was the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. 
In politics she was strongly federalist. So continuing, she 
opposed the War of 1812, refused to allow her military to 
leave the state or be placed under U. S. officers, and heartily 
joined the other New England states in the Hartford Con- 
vention (p. 230). 

After the restoration of peace, old issues having passed 
away, the federalists lost ground, and in 1817 "the Tolera- 
tion Party " had control of the state. The following year a 
new Constitution was formed, for up to that time the colo- 
nial charter had been in force. By this instrument the old 



CONNECTICUT. 



359 



church establishment was abolished and the right of voting 
was extended. 

Since this time Connecticut has for the most part en- 
joyed uninterrupted prosperity. Her manufacturing inter- 
ests have steadily increased, and her commerce has extended. 
Both received an impetus from the facilities of transporta- 
tion afforded by the railroads which thread the state, about 
925 miles of line being now in operation. Her cities have 
rapidly grown, notwithstanding the tide of emigration that 
has spread from her borders even to the remotest bounds of 
the land. 

During the Civil War, Connecticut stood loyally by the 
Union. William A. Buckingham, of Norwich, was governor 



r^^eW, MASS. 




throughout the trying struggle, and from first to last proved 
himself, like Gov. Andrew of Massachusetts, a zealous sup- 
porter of the general government. Connecticut furnished 
the federal armies the equivalent of 48,181 men for three 
years. Gov. Buckingham's services were warmly appre- 
ciated ; he was elected to the highest office in the state for 
seven successive terms, and was afterward sent to the U. S. 
Senate. 



360 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Among the officers that distinguished themselves in the 
Civil War, Connecticut was well represented by General 
Lyon, who saved Missouri to the Union, Generals Sedgwick 
and Terry, and Admiral Foote. Gen. Sedgwick, wiio had 
served in the Mexican War, acquitted liimself with honor 
at Fair Oaks and in the seven days' battles under McClellan, 
at Antietam and Gettysburg. Entrusted with an important 
command under Grant in the advance on Richmond, he fell 
near Spottsylvania Court House in 1864. Gen. Terry, of 
Hartford, was one of the heroes of Fort Fisher (p. 287). Ad- 
miral Foote, who assisted at the capture of Forts Henry 
and Donelson and in other important operations, was a na- 
tive and resident of New Haven. — Gideon Welles, of Hart- 
ford, was at the head of the navy department under Presi- 
dents Lincoln and Johnson. 

Changes of CapitaL — The original capital of the united 
colonies of Connecticut and New Haven w^as Hartford. In 
1701 New Haven also was made a capital, and so continued 
till 1875, when Hartford ngain became the sole seat of gov- 
ernment. 

Education. — ^Liberal provision for free education has been 
for many years a leading feature of legislation in Connecti- 
cut. It is claimed that the attendance on the public schools 
in proportion to the population is larger there than in any 
other state. Teachers are prepared in the state normal 
school at New Britain, established in 1849. 

Yale College (p. 100) has exercised an influence in train- 
ing the public men, not only of Connecticut but of the coun- 
try at large, that can not be estimated. The first college 
edifice was completed in New Haven in 1718, and was called 
Yale College in honor of its generous benefactor, Elihu Yale. 
Its later presidents, Ezra Stiles, Timothy D wight, Jeremiah 
Day, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, and Noah Porter, have all 
been distinguished in different departments of literature. 

There are two other institutions for higher instruction : 



RHODE ISLAND. 361 

Trinity College (Episcopal — till 1845 known as Washington 
College), established at Hartford in 1823, and Wesleyan 
University (Methodist) at Middle town, founded in 1831. 

Authors and Inventors. — Connecticut has produced many 
authors and scholars prominent m American literature. 
Among these are the metaphysician, Jonathan Edwards ; 
the lexicographer, Noah Webster ; the poets, Trumbull (au- 
thor of the once popular satire "McFingal"), Joel Barlow 
Pierpont, Percival and Mrs. Sigourney ; Elihu Burritt, " the 
learned blacksmith " ; Dr. Lyman Beecher and his sons, 
particularly Henry Ward, theological and miscellaneous 
writers ; and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, daughter of the 
same Dr. Lyman Beecher and author of " Uncle Tom's Cab- 
in," as well as other popular fictions. 

New Haven and Hartford gave birth respectively to 
Charles Goodyear and Samuel Colt, two of the great invent- 
ors of the age. Goodyear devised the method of vulcaniz- 
ing india-rubber, which enables it to be used for five hundred 
different purposes, thus furnishing employment, it is com- 
puted, to 60,000 persons. Colt invented the revolver that 
bears his name, and built at his native city one of the most 
extensive armories in the world. 



RHODE ISLAND. 

The Founders. — The circumstances under which Roger 
Williams founded Rhode Island and its metropolis have been 
already related (p. 63). The name of the city bears wit- 
ness to his trust in Providence, and the quaint titles of some 
of its streets (Benevolent Street, Benefit Street, Faith 
Street, Hope Street, etc.) are a key to the spirit of its early 
settlers. The First Baptist Church of Providence traces its 
origin to Roger Williams. The engraving on the next page 
shows the venerable meeting-house, completed in 1775. 
16 



362 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Koger Williams, however, remained but a short time con- 
nected with this society, as he began to doubt that there is 

any regularly con- 
stituted church on 
earth. He was 
president of the 
colony from 1654 
to 1657, and lived 
till 1683. 

The "modest 
and virtuous" 
John Clarke must 
also be remem- 
bered in connec- 
tion with the 
founding of Rhode 
Island. One of 
the company that 
sought refuge on 
the Isle of Rhodes 
(p. 64), he estab- 
lished the First 
Baptist Church of 
Newport. In 1651 
he accompanied 
Roger Williams to 
England as agent 
of the colony; and, 
he obtained from 



remaining there till after the Restoration, 

Charles II. in 1663 that excellent charter which secured to 

all entire freedom in religious matters. 

William Coddington led the settlers that founded Ports- 
mouth at the northern extremity of the Isle of Rhodes. He 
figured prominently as magistrate of that town and New- 
port, and was twice governor of the colony under the charter 




RHODE ISLAND. 363 

of 1GG3. — Among the other early governors, Samuel Cran- 
ston, who held the office from 1698 to 1727, was one of the 
most popular. 

Early Educational Movements.— The education of the 
young was early cared for in Rhode Island. Newport took 
the lead in 164:0, granting a hundred acres for the support 
of a school and a like tract to the schoolmaster. In 1663 
Providence followed the example. Free schools were estab- 
lished in Providence in 1766, the pioneers of the present 
excellent public schools of the state with 40,000 pupils on 
their rolls. 

An impetus was given to the literary taste of the colony 
by the residence and preaching of the celebrated English 
philosopher Berkeley at Newport, 1729-1731. Realizing, 
as he wrote, that " westward the course of empire takes its 
way," Berkeley came to the New World with the design of 
establishing a college for the training of colonial pastors and 
missionaries to the Indians. The promised aid of govern- 
ment being withheld, the scheme failed ; but the great 
metajDhysician remained at Newport long enough to com- 
pose one of his best works, "Alciphron, or the Minute 
Philosopher," a defence of religion in the dialogue form. 

Rhode Island College, under Baptist control, was char- 
tered in 1 764, and opened at Warren. In 1770 it was re- 
moved to Providence, and several years later in honor of a 
liberal benefactor its name was changed to Brown Univer- 
sity. It has become a prominent seat of learning, two of 
its presidents, Drs. Francis Wayland and Barnas Sears be- 
ing particularly distinguished, as authors as well as educa- 
tors. 

Burning of the Gaspee. — As the Revolution approached, 
the spirit of the Rhode Islanders was shown in the affair of 
the Gaspee. This was a royal schooner, which in 1772, 
cruising in Narragansett Bay to prevent smuggling, exas- 
perated the people by all kinds of annoyances. One day, 



364 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLA^^). 

while chasing a sloop, the Gaspee ran aground. That night 
it was boarded and burned by a party from Providence. 

Captain Abraham Whipple, afterward a successful com- 
modore, was one of the leaders of the expedition. This 
Whipple, at a later day, having captured the tender of a 
royal frigate that was pursuing the same course as the Gas- 
pee, received from the British captain the following note : 
" You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned 
His Majesty's vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the 
yard-arm. James Wallace." Whipple's reply was equally 
brief, but more to the point: " To Sir James Wallace : Sir, 
Always catch a man before you hang him. Abraham 
Whipple." 

In the Revolution the coasts of Rhode Island suffered 
much. Newport was in possession of the enemy for nearly 
three years ; her population scattered, her resources ex- 
hausted, her library (the second best in the colonies) pil- 
laored, and five hundred of her houses burned, she never 
recovered her former standing. 

All through the struggle Rliode Island did her part, 
especially in the naval service. Commodore Whipple already 
mentioned. Commodore Silas Talbot of Providence, and Cap- 
tains Read and Babcock, who hailed from Newport, gave a 
good account of themselves on the ocean. Captain Stephen 
Decatur (father of the commodore), who commanded the 
celebrated privateer Fair American, was a native of New- 
port. Gen. James M. Varnum, of the famous Kentish Guards^ 
and other officers, maintained the honor of their state in the 
field ; but, had Rhode Island done nothing more than give 
Gen. Greene to the Continental army, she would have been 
entitled to the gratitude of the countr3^* 

* Nathanael Greexk, " the Rhode Island blacksmith," was one of Washington's 
most valued officers. He was born in Warwick in 1742, and was broufrht up to labor at 
his father's anvil, but being fond of learning made the most of his limited advantages. 
When a colUsion with Great Britain seemed probable, he imbibed the spirit of the day, 
and was read out of Quaker meeting for drilling a company of his townsmen in military 



RHODE ISLAND. 3G5 

Hopkins and Ellery. — Two months before independence 
was declared, Rhode Island, through her Assembly, solemnly 
renounced her allegiance to the British crown. Two of her 
representativ^es in the Continental Congress (the third, Sam- 
uel Ward, having previously died in Philadelphia of small- 
pox) signed the Declaration — Stephen Hopkins and William 
Ellery. The former, a native of Scituate, had been chief- 
justice of the Superior Court and repeatedly governor of the 
colony. Ellery was long in the public service; his dwelling 
in Newport having been burned by the enemy, he received 
from Washington the office of collector of the customs for 
that port. 

Later Events. — Her country towns being strong advo- 
cates of states'-rights, Rhode Island sent no delegate to the 
convention that framed the federal Constitution, and she 
was the last state to accept that instrument (May 29, 1790). 
Meanwhile provision had been made for the gradual eman- 
cipation of the slaves. The resources of the state were 
developing, and the commercial enterprise of her merchants 
was laying the foundations of an extensive foreign trade. 

Manufacturing Interests. — In 1788 the manufacture of 
cotton cloth was commenced by a Providence company ; and 
in December, 1790, on the Pawtucket River a cotton factory 
went into operation with improved machinery patterned 
after that of Arkwright in England. For forty years Paw- 
tucket, still famous for its spindles, was the leading manu- 

exercises. Eemoving to Coventiy, he was elected to the General Assembly. News of 
the doings at Lexington brought him to Cambridge at the head of the Rhode Island 
troops. Here attracting the attention of Washington, he was selected for the command 
on Long Island, where the fortunes of the day might have been different had he not been 
prostrated by fever just before the battle. He did his duty bravely at Harlem Heights, 
in the disastrous retreat through Jersey, at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, German- 
town, Valley Forge, Monmouth, Newport, and in the face of appalling difficulties man- 
aged the southern campaign in the most masterly manner. 

To help pay his suffering troops. Gen. Greene parted with his property, and at the 
conclusion of the war he would have been penniless but for the grant of an estate on the 
Savannah River made to him by the legislature of Georgia. Here bis useful life was 
ended by a sunstroke, in 1TS6. 



366 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

factoring town of the country. Slatersville preserves the 
name of the young mechanic who brought from Derbyshire 
the experience requisite for this new industry, and thus made 
Rhode Island a great manufacturing state. 

Such it has continued to the present time. In the pro- 
duction of domestic prints and screws it surpasses all the 
other states. Woonsocket is justly noted for its cotton and 
woollen goods, and Providence for a large variety of manu- 
factures, among which screws, tools, gold jewelry, and silver 
ware, are not the least important. The great Corliss engine 
of 1,400 horse-power, which the latter city contributed to 
the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which 
furnished the whole motive power for Machinery Hall, was 
one of the great wonders of the Exposition. 

Kew Constitution. — After the suppression of Dorr's Re- 
bellion (p. 243), a new state Constitution was adopted, which 
in May, 1843, superseded the old charter of 1663. 

Noted Officers. — In the war of 1812, Rhode Island shared 
in the laurels won by her naval hero Perry.* During the 
Civil War her most conspicuous general was Ambrose E. 
Burnside (a native of Indiana, but identified with Rhode 
Island by residence), whose services were rewarded with the 
governorship of the state for three successive terms, 1866- 



* Oliver Hazakd Pertit was bom at Newport, in 17S5. At the age of thirteen, war 
being threatened with France, he obtained the rank of midshipman, and went on a cruise 
in the Gulf of Mexico with his father, who was a post-captain in the regular service. In 
1S12 he -was stationed at Newport in command of a flotilla of gunboats that protected the 
harbor. Desiring more active service, he obtained permission to join Commodore Chaun- 
cey on the lakes. His achievements on Lake Eric belong to the brightest page of Ameri- 
can histoiy. After his victory Perry joined Gen. Harrison as an aid, and took part in tho 
battle of the Thames. 

In the latter part of the war, Perry was blockaded in Chesapeake Bay, where the 
frigate Java, equipped at Baltimore, had been placed under his command. Sent to 
Venezuela in 1S19 to negotiate for the protection of American commerce, he there con- 
tracted the yellow fever, and died of it off Trinidad at the early age of thirty-four. He 
was the true type of the American sailor— fearless, chivalrous, and full of resource. 

Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who was the means of opening Japan in 1S54, was 
a brother of Oliver and a native of South Kingston. A bronze statue has been erected to 
his memory in Newport. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 367 

1868. (See engraving, p. 359.) She was also represented 
by Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, who commanded the land- 
force at Port Royal (p. 270), and was severely wounded at 
Port Hudson. He died at Newport, March IG, 1879. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Boundary disputes, growing out of the vagueness and 
overlapping of different patents, constitute a striking fea- 
ture in the early history of New Hampshire. 

On the final separation of New Hampshire from Massa- 
chusetts in 1741, Benning Went worth (one of a family that 
long held the highest office in the colony) was made gov- 
ernor. Liberally interpreting Mason's grant of 1629, he 
proceeded to lay out townships and convey lands on both 
sides of the Connecticut River, filling his own pocket and 
producing a fever of speculation. But New York, in virtue 
of a royal decision, claimed the territory as far as the Con- 
necticut, declared the titles received from Wentworth in- 
valid, and required the settlers on "the New Hampshire 
Grants "to pay a second time for their lands on pain of 
ejectment. Driven to desperation, the latter resolved on 
independence, and assumed the name of "the State of 
Vermont." Twice during the Revolution they applied to 
be admitted to the confederacy, but without success owing 
to the opposition of New York. They elected a governor 
and legislature of their own, however, and were joined by 
twenty-eight towns east of the river. 

New Hampshire was thus for a time dismembered, and 
great excitement prevailed. The long controversy was finally 
settled in 1791 by New York's surrendering her claim, and 
the admission of Vermont as a state. She had previously 
declared her eastern boundary to be the west bank of the 



368 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Connecticut, and the New Hampshire towns that had sought 
a union with her had returned to their allegiance. 

First Revolutionary Movements.— John Wentworth, who 
succeeded his uncle Benning in 1768, was governor at the 
commencement of the Revolution. When Gen. Gage could 
find no carpenters in Boston to build barracks for his sol- 
diers, the governor tried to send him workmen from New 
Hampshire ; but the attempt aroused such indignation that 
Wentworth was glad to retire to a British man-of-war. A 
party of patriots seized the fort near Portsmouth ; and its 
fifteen cannon and hundred barrels of gunpowder were sub- 
sequently turned to good account. The cause of liberty was 
popular. Likenesses of George HI. that figured on sign- 
boards were daubed over, and half-pence ceased to pass be- 
cause they bore the image of His Majesty. 

The temporary government established on Wentworth's 
retirement had no single executive head. The execution of 
the laws was vested in the House of Representatives and 
the Council, and, when they were not sitting, in committees 
of their appointment. Meshech Weare, a man greatly re- 
vered in the state, was president of the Council (or upper 
house) and of the Committee of Safety throughout the war. 
There was no governor till 1793, when the revised Constitu- 
tion went into force, and Josiah Bartlett, a signer of the 
Declaration, was chosen to that office. 

The Revolutionary heroes of New Hampshire have Sulli- 
van and Stark for their central figures, but also include, 
among others, Reed, Cilley, Hale, and the gallant officers to 
whose memory Lafayette on his visit to Concord gave the 
toast, " Light Infantry Poor, and Yorktown Scammell." 

John Sullivan was a native of Maine. He studied law 
with the eminent advocate Samuel Livermore,* of Ports- 



* "About tho year 175S," says one, speaking of Sullivan, "a roughly-dressed lad of 
seventeen knocked at the door of ]a^vJ-er Livermore's house, and asking for the Squire, 
solicited employment. ' And what can you do, my iad, if I take you ? ' asked Mr. Liv 



NEW HAMPSHEBE. 



mouth, and commenced the practice of his profession at 
Durham. He was one of the leaders in the first outbreak of 
the people at Portsmouth, and heartily embarked in the war. 
In the summer of 1775 Congress made him a brigadier, and 
from that time until the termination of his raid in the In- 
dian country (p. 171) he was constantly in active service — 
not always successful, but always deserving of success. 
After the war, he was attorney-general and president of the 
state, and by his decision he saved it at a critical- period from 
threatened anarchy. 

John Stark, born at Londonderry in 1728, was a veteran 
of the French and Indian War, and a natural leader of men. 
(See engraving, p. 374.) Love of liberty with him was para- 
mount. "When the news came from Lexington, within fif- 
teen minutes he was in the saddle, and in two days he had 
mustered thirteen companies into service. These were the 
hearts of oak that held the rail-fence at Bunker Hill in the 
face of the best troops of Britain.'^ 



ermore ' Oh ' I can split wood, take care of the horse, attend to the gardening, and per- 
haps find some spare time to read a little, if you will allow it,' was SulUvan's reply. He 
was immediately installed in the kitchen; but by his intelligence and study he soon 
raised himself to the office and parlor, and finally became the colleague of his preceptor m 

^''Tstark had been known to Gen. Gage, who admired his intrepid spirit On that 
memorable morning, while the general was scanning through his glass the redoubt that 
before ni-ht was to be the scene of such carnage, some one asked him whether the 
Americanos would fight. "I think they wiU," he answered, "if John Stark is with 

*^The estimation in which Stark was held by those who knew him best, is shown by 
what took place in the Assembly of New Hampshire when Vermonfs urgent appeal for 
aid against Burgovne's invading host was presented. All was dismay; it seemed as if 
dia againbt x-ui^u^ ^, . , .„^ „„,i ip^ nt the mercv of the foe. Then the speaker of 
New England would be ^^^^ f /^"^^'j^^J',: ZIZ and said : " I have $3,000 in hard 
the House, the undaunted Pat"ot John Lang^on ^.ogsheads of Tobago 

money ; I ^^ill pledge my plate for $3 000 more 1 hav y ^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 

'T^sl! "fSdt; a n,e.o.a„t of PoHsn>o„t^ was a«.^^^^^ 
ate, and elected gorerBor of New Hamrshke for several terms. 



370 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Gen. Stark participated in the dangers and glories of 
T/enton and Princeton. AA^hat he did at Bennington, every 
one knows (p. 162). Later he had command of the northern 
department, and managed it with the same energy that 
marked his career on the field. He died in 1822 at the age 
of ninety-three, and was buried in his family lot at Manches- 
ter. In the centennial year the people of Manchester assem- 
bled, and planted memorial trees around his grave. 

Education. — In 1791, the first movement was made for 
the establishment of common schools, by the assessment of 
a tax on every town for their support. Higher instruction 
had already been provided for by the establishment of Dart- 
mouth College, in 1769. This institution grew out of a 
charity school for the education of Indian youth, conducted 
by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, at Lebanon, Conn. When 
the necessity arose for locating this school nearer to those it 
was designed to benefit, numerous sites were ofi'ered ; that 
at Hanover, N. H., was selected as the most eligible. A col- 
lege charter was obtained, and the institution was named 
after the Earl of Dartmouth. Tracts of land amounting to 
44,000 acres were secured, and large donations were received 
from abroad. Dartmouth soon took its place among the 
leading colleges, its roll of graduates embracing many in 
the foremost ranks of professional and political life. Con- 
nected with it are Scientific and Medical Departments, a 
School of Civil Engineering, and the State College of Agri- 
culture and the Mechanic Arts, established in 1866. 

Phillips Academy, the first institution of this grade in 
the state, was opened at Exeter at the close of the Revolu- 
tion. It was founded by John Phillips, to wiiom also the 
academy of the same name at Andover, Mass., is indebted 
for a noble endowment. — There are now in the state about 
2,500 public schools and academies. Since 1871 a normal 
school has been in operation at Plymouth. 

Amendment of the Constitution. — In 1792, important 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



371 



constitutional amendments were adopted, and the first bank 
was established at Portsmouth. This city was then the 
commercial emporium and capital of the state, but in 1807 
the seat of government was transferred to Concord. 

In 1877, eleven amendments to the state Constitution 
were adopted by vote of the people. The number of state 
senators was increased to 24, while that of the representa- 
tives was diminished. The terms of the governor and mem- 
bers of the legislature were fixed at two years, and the ses- 
sions of the legislature were made biennial in stead of annual. 

Men of Note.— 
Among the New 
Hampshire states- 
men best known 
to the country at 
large are Levi 
Woodbury (1789 
-1851), the suc- 
cessor of Judge 
Story on the su- 
preme bench of 
the United States ; 
Franklin Pierce 
(1804-1869), the 
fourteenth president; and John P. Hale (1806-1873), the 
candidate of the free-soil party for the presidency in 
1852. 

Mr. Woodbury was successively governor of New Hamp- 
shire, senator of the United States, secretary of the navy, 
secretary of the treasury, and again senator. A democrat 
in politics, he opposed the repeal of the sub-treasury bill and 
supported the annexation of Texas. Pierce was a native 
of Hillsborough, and had studied law under Woodbury. 
Hale began his political career as a democrat, but became 
a strong opponent of slavery. As such he was elected three 




372 HISTORY OF NEW EXGLxVND. 

times to the U. S. Senate, where he was distinguished for 
his wit and readiness of retort. 

Jeremiah Mason (1708-184:8), at one time considered the 
foremost lawyer in New England, also enjoyed a national 
reputation. John Taylor Oilman, a federalist, and William 
Plumer, in the latter part of his life a democrat, were j^rom- 
inent among the earl}^ governors. 

The number of New Hampshire men who have left her 
borders and become distinguished elsewhere, is remarkable. 
In addition to those already mentioned in connection with 
other states, * may be named Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase, 
of Ohio ; Lewis Cass, of Michigan ; Horace Greeley, of the 
JVeio York Tribune ; Joseph C. Neal, the hum.orous w^riter; 
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, the poet; and Gen. Benjamin F. 
Butler, of Massachusetts. 



VERMONT, 



Green Mountain Boys Avas the appellation assumed by 
the early settlers of the New Hampshire Grants, who for 
twenty years sturdily maintained, and finally established, 
their independence. Bennington, the first town chartered 
by Gov. Benning Wentworth, was their headquarters. 
Here, in front of the tavern, on a sign-post twenty-five feet 
high, was a stuffed catamount with glaring eyes and grinning 
teeth, turned in the direction of New York. This was in- 
tended to warn off the hated officials of the neighboring 
colony. If the latter persisted in crossing the border with 
hostile purposes, they were stripped, tied to a tree, and 
soundly w^hipped with beech scions ; or, if their captors felt 
specially merciful, perhaps they were only triced up in a 
chair beside the catamount to be jeered at by the crowd. 



* Daniel Webster was a native of Salisburj^ where his birth-place is still an object of 
interest. Salisbury was then a frontier town ; for a time his father's nearest neighbor on 
the north was in Canada. 



VEKMONT. 373 

Ethan Allen was the leader of the Green Mountain Boys. 
The governor of New York offered £150 for his arrest ; Al- 
len did not rate his enemies so high ; in a counter-proclama- 
tion he offered £5 for the apprehension of the attorney-gen- 
eral of New York. The outbreak of the Revolution for a 
time absorbing all other interests, Col. Allen did the country 
great service by his seizure of Ticonderoga (p. 14:1). Next 
engaging in Montgomery's invasion of Canada, he attempted 
to repeat his heroic achievement by capturing Montreal with 
a hundred men, but was captured himself and sent in irons 
to England. It was May, 1778, before he was exchanged. 
He was now appointed to the command of the Vermont 
militia ; but the old troubles had revived, and in stead of 
taking the field, Allen devoted himself to the interests of 
the infant state, now pleading its cause with Congress, and 
now coquetting with British agents who were trying to draw 
it over to the royal cause. In this latter diplomacy, Ethan's 
brother Ira also displayed great shrewdness ; and the two 
succeeded in amusing the British with hopes of success and 
preventing hostile demonstrations from Canada, until the 
news of Cornwallis's surrender was received. 

Another true Green Mountain Boy was Seth Warner, a 
useful officer, who enjoyed the confidence of Washington 
and was in active service throughout the war. A third was 
Thomas Chittenden,* a man of superior talents and virtue. 
He was elected the first governor of Vermont in 1778, and 



* Gov. Thomas Chittkkden was born in Guilford, Conn. All the time lie was gover- 
nor, he conducted his farm and inn without any derogation of dignity. From Lippincott's 
Cabinet History of Vermont we quote the following story of this unaflfefited but univer- 
sally respected officer : — 

" It is related that a stranger from another state, having business with the governor, 
overtook a farmer driving a load of hay, and inquired of him the way to the residence of 
that official. The farmer answered that it was a short distance, and he was going directly 
there ; and the stranger walked his horse behind the wagon, until it stopped at an inn. 
The farmer inquired if the horse of the traveler was to be fed, and. receiving a reply in 
the affirmative, attended to the animal. He next directed his boys to take charge of tha 
hay. Then, taking oflF his farmer's frock and washing his hands and head, he turned to 
the wailing stranger : ' Now then, what is it you want of the governor ? ' " 



374 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 



held the office till 1797 with the exception of a single 3'ear. 
His son, Martin Chittenden, was governor in 1813 and 1814. 
The Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777 (p. 162), was 
one of the turning-points of the war, in that it decided the 
fate of Burgoyne's expedition. It was remarkable for hav- 
ing been won exclusively by militia, without aid from the 




regular army. The Green 
Mountain Boys, under Colo- 
nel Warner, shared in the 
Q^s^i^E^^^ry glory of the day. 

tK. ^T/^f\'^ ^ ^fter tjie war, Vermont, 

not yet a member of the confederacy, escaped the burden of 
debt that weighed down the other states. Finally ad- 
mitted without a dissenting voice as the fourteenth state 
(1791), she at once entered on a career of prosperity. — Mont- 
pelier became the seat of government in 1805. 

Gov. Tichenor, who continued in office from 1797 to 
1807, was a federalist; but Israel Smith, who succeeded him, 
was a democrat ; and again, from 1809 to 1813, the democrats 



VERMONT. 375 

succeeded in electing their candidate, Jonas Galusha. The 
democratic governor and legislature supported the War of 
1812, and encouraged enlistments. In the battle of Platts- 
burg Vermonters took an important part, McDonough's flo- 
tilla being fitted out at Vergennes. Nor did Vermont join 
the other New England states in the Hartford Convention. 

The State Constitution, originally adopted in 1777, has 
been several times amended. In 1836, a senate was first es- 
tablished. In 1870, the terms of the principal state-officers, 
as well as the sessions of the legislature, were made biennial. 
Judges have always been elected ; at first they were chosen 
by the legislature, but since 1850 assistant judges of the 
county courts, judges of probate, and justices of the peace, 
have been elected by the people. 

Later Events— In 1837, during the Canadian rebellion 
(p. 241), some five or six hundred Vermonters, who sympa- 
thized with the insurgents, crossed the border for the pur- 
pose of helping them ; but on General Wool's urgent remon- 
strance and the approach of a greatly superior British force, 
they recrossed the line and laid down their arms. 

By the Webster- Ashburton treaty in 1842, Vermont ob- 
tained over 60,000 acres, which, had parallel 45° been 
strictly followed, would have been thrown into Canada. 

Railroads, bringing its agricultural products within easy 
reach of market, have done much to develop the resources 
of the state. The first roads established were the Vermont 
Central commenced in 1846, and the Rutland and Burlington 
in 1847. There are now about 900 miles of line in operation. 

In the Civil War, Vermont was represented by many 
brave officers. She furnished the Federal army with the 
equivalent of 29,052 men for three years. 

Education. — The Constitution of Vermont requires schools 
to be maintained in every town at the public expense. There 
is no fund for their support, but a direct tax is levied on the 
towns for their maintenance. There are three normal schools 



376 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

— at Randolph, Johnson, and Castleton — for which the state 
makes an annual appropriation. There are also three insti- 
tutions of collegiate grade : the University of Vermont and 
State Agricultural College, at Burlington, established in 
ITOl and opened in 1800 ; Middlebury College, founded in 
the latter year ; and Norwich University, chartered in 1834. 
The agricultural college was united with the university in 
1865, and brought to it 150,000 acres of land, constituting 
the grant from the general government. 

The school law of 1874 vested the supervision of com- 
mon schools in a state superintendent of education, who is 
elected every two years by the legislature. 

Granges. — Vermont has more improved land than any 
other New England state. Agriculture and dairying are 
leading industries ; and for their protection granges of the 
Patrons of Husbandry have been organized in various 
towns. 

Noted Names. — Vermont has given birth to her share of 
celebrities. Worth}- of special mention are George P. 
Marsh, the philologist, who has represented his country as 
minister in Turkey, Greece, and Italy ; Gov. William Slade, 
an industrious compiler and faithful worker in the cause of 
education ; Rufus W. Griswold, an accomplished critic and 
editor ; John G. Saxe, the humorous poet ; Hiram Powers, 
the sculptor; and Zerah Colburn, the mathematical prodigy. 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, " the Little Giant," promi- 
nent in political history from 1840 to 1861, was a native of 
Brandon. 

Daniel P. Thompson, whose fiction represents New Eng- 
land scenery and character with charming truthfulness to 
nature, was a resident of Montpelier. Judge Collamer (1792 
-1865), a native of Troy, New York, but identified with 
Vermont by residence from youth, was an eminent lawyer 
distinguished in various public stations, and for thirteen 
years in the U. S. Senate. 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 377 

MAINE. 

Early Explorations.— Tlie first English voyager of note 
that visited the coast of Maine was Bartholomew Gosnold, 
in the last year of Queen Elizabeth's reign. He was fol- 
lowed in 1603 by Martin Pring-, who explored Penobscot and 
Casco Bays, and named the Fox Islands from the number of 
foxes he observed on them. Two years later, Capt. Wey- 
mouth, sent out by James I., landed at Monhegan, — took 
possession of the whole region in the name of his king, — 
spent some time near Boothbay, — opened a traffic with the 
natives, smoked lobster-claw pipes with them, and rewarded 
their confidence by carrying off five of their number. 

The Plymouth Company, immediately after its formation, 
attempted to plant a colony under Capt. George Popham at 
the mouth of the Sagadahoc, or Kennebec River. Here the 
new-comers built a coaster of thirty tons (1607), the pioneer 
of hundreds of fine craft for which that region has since been 
famous. But they soon had collisions with the natives, 
their storehouse was burned, and discouraged by hardship 
they abandoned the colony. 

In 1621 the country east of the St. Croix was conveyed 
to William Alexander, who called it Nova Scotia. Before, 
however, he could do much toward colonizing his grant, 
King Charles I., espousing the daughter of the king of 
France, ceded the whole of Nova Scotia to that country. 
The French claimed also the eastern part of the Maine coast, 
and by frequent raids gave trouble to the English settlers. 

The First Permanent Settlements were made at Monhe- 
gan and Saco about 1622. The General Court held its first 
session at Saco in 1640. The province of Maine then ex- 
tended from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec, and was under 
Sir Ferdinand© Gorges. Gorgeana (named after the pro- 
prietary — now York) was the capital, and the prospects of 
the province were good. But the civil war which resulted 



378 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND, 

in the overthrow of Charles I. proved disastrous to Gorges, 
who was a rovalist, and he died without ever seeing his 
province. 

Union with Massachusetts. — When Massachusetts took 
the ground that the Maine settlements were included within 
the limits of her charter, Puritan influence then prevailing 
in the mother country, the claim was allowed ; nor did the 
settlers, who desired the protection of their stronger neigh- 
bor, make any serious opposition. Accordingly the union 
was effected in 1652, from which time the history of Maine 
is, for 168 years, embraced in that of Massachusetts. 

The Intercolonial Wars were the cause of severe loss and 
suffering to Maine. Her few settlements were confined to the 
coast, behind which spread a vast v>^ilderness that afforded 
the prowling savage every opportunity for murderous am- 
bushes and surprises. Taught to brave danger as well as 
endure hardship, the early pioneers grew up into a race of 
self-reliant heroes, with iron sinews and iron wills. 

Distinguished among the leaders of the earlier time was 
that Gen. William Pepperell, of Kittery, who in 1745 cap- 
tured Louisburg (p. 107), in the face of difficulties that would 
have baffled a man of less resolution. The commander of 
the fleet and one third of the whole force were Maine men. 
Pepperell was made a baronet for his victory — a distinction 
then for the first time conferred on a native of the colonies. 
Sir William lived in lordly style ; his park was stocked with 
deer, and his barge was manned by a crew of negroes in 
uniform. 

The Revolution. — jMaine fully sympathized in those pa- 
triotic movements that led to the Revolution. Within a few 
hours after the news of the battle of Lexington reached 
York, a company of the citizens of that place was on its 
march to Boston. The first British vessel captured by Amer- 
icans in the war was taken by Maine volunteers in Machias 
Bay (May, 1775). Shortly after, Falmouth (now Portland), 



IVLVINE. 379 

then a place of five hundred dwellings, was bombarded by 
the enemy. Later in the war, British ships harried the 
eastern coast, pillaging and burning mills and dwellings. 

After the Revolution many sought homes on the gov- 
ernment lands in Maine, which were offered to those who 
had served in the war at $1 an acre. The valuable forests 
of " the Pine-tree State " began to be turned to account, and 
by 1790 the population had increased to nearly 100,000. 
Maine had been erected into a District in 1779; in 1794 she 
was represented by three delegates in Congress. In this 
same year Bowdoin {bo'chi) College received its charter. It 
was named after Gov. James Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, 
whose son made munificent donations to the college. 

Gen. Knox, commander of the artillery corps in the Revo- 
lution and Washington's secretary of war, after resigning 
the latter position in 1794, became a citizen of Maine. Origi- 
nally a bookseller in Boston, where he was born in 1750, he 
espoused the patriot cause, and after the battle of Lexing- 
ton managed to escape from the city, his young wife accom- 
panying him with his sword concealed under her dress. He 
distinguished himself by the energy with which, in spite of 
almost insuperable obstacles, he brought a supply of much- 
needed ordnance from the northern frontier to the patriots 
besieging Boston ; and he took part in every battle in which 
Washington fought. Gen. Knox married a granddaughter 
of Gen. Waldo ; and through her and by extensive pur- 
chases he acquired an estate in Maine said to be thirty miles 
square. He erected a magnificent residence at Thomaston, 
and exercised a princely hospitality. It was no unusual 
thing for him to have an ox and twenty sheep slaughtered 
in a week for his own table. 

Sons of Maine. — Maine gave birth to a number of dis- 
tinguished men who removed to other scenes of action and 
became identified with other states. Among these was Ru- 
fus King, born in Scarborough in 1755, an eloquent pleader. 



380 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 

a framer of the Constitution, one of the federalist leaders, 
a U. S. senator (from New York), and minister to Great 
Britain. Commodore Preble, the hero of the Tripolitan 
War (p. 208), was also a native of Maine; and Portland pro- 
duced the well-known writers, John Neal and N. P. Willis. 
Seba Smith (" Major Jack Downing ") and Elizabeth Oakes, 
his wife, a popular miscellaneous writer, belong to Maine. 

The "War of 1812 exposed Maine once more to the hor- 
rors of invasion. The enemy descended on Eastport, Cas- 
tine, Hampden, Bangor, and Machias, and proclaimed the 
country east of the Penobscot to be a British province. The 
sturdy honesty of the collector at Eastport is worthy of no- 
tice. No bribes or threats on the part of the British could 
induce him to place his name to some unsigned treasury- 
notes which they seized in the custom-house, and to which 
his signature was necessary to give value. 

Admission into the Union.— By 1820 the population of 
Maine, scattered through her nine counties and 236 towns, 
had become nearly 300,000, and there w^as a general desire 
that the district should be erected into an independent state. 
The 3d of March witnessed her admission into the Union, a 
Constitution agreed upon liy delegates from the several 
towns having previously been ratified by the popular vote. 
Portland was selected as the capital. The first governor 
was Gen. William King, of Bath, a marble statue of whom 
was presented by the state to the general government in 
1878, and now stands in the capitol at Washington. A state 
seal was adopted, and Waterville College (now Colby Uni- 
versity) was chartered. In 1825 the Maine Wesleyan Semi- 
nary was established at Readfield. 

Important Events.— Tn 1823, during the administration of 
the second governor, Albion K. Parris, the first steamboat 
ever seen in Maine began to ply between Boston and Port- 
land. Under Gov. Samuel E. Smith, of Wiscasset, the ele- 
gant granite state-house at Augusta was completed (1832), 



MAINE. 381 

and the seat of government was removed from Portland to 
that city. During the administration of Gov. Dunlap, of 
Brunswick, the first railroad in the state— the Portland, Saco, 
and Portsmouth, completed in 1842 — was chartered. 

The Aroostook War, the most important event in the 
later history of Maine, took place in 1839, while John Fair- 
field, of Suco, was governor. It grew out of a dispute as to 
the national boundary line. Parties from Maine and from 
New Brunswick proceeded to occupy the disputed territory, 
and a military force was called out on each side. Gen. Scott, 
sent speedily forward by the national government, happily 
arrived in time to prevent bloodshed, and it wds agreed to 
bide the result of peaceful negotiations. The controversy 
was so settled in 1842 (p. 243). Maine was shorn of part of 
the territory she claimed, but was compensated by $350,000 
paid her by the general government, while her citizens were 
secured in the free navigation of the St. John. The United 
States, in return for its concessions, gained Rouse's Point 
and a valuable tract on Lake Superior. 

Liquor Laws. — Maine has been conspicuous in late years 
for the firm stand she has taken in regard to the sale of 
intoxicating liquors. Strong prohibitory laws have been 
passed and generally enforced. Neal Dov/ (twice mayor of 
Portland) and his Maine Liquor Law became the watch- 
words of temperance reformers in various parts of the Union. 

Distinguished Men. — William Pitt Fessenden has been 
one of the most distinguished statesmen that Maine has 
given to the national councils. Born in N'cav Hampshire in 
1806, he was graduated at Bowdoin College, and commenced 
the practice of law at Portland. In 1840 he was elected by 
the whigs to the House of Representatives, and in- 1853 he 
became a senator of the United States. In 1859 (having 
meanwhile joined the republican party) he was re-elected to 
the Senate, and he ably represented his state during the 
stormy debates that agitated the close of Buchanan's term. 



382 



HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Mr. Fessenden displayed great ability in dealing with finan- 
cial questions, and in 1864 he was called to succeed Mr. 
Chase as secretary of the treasury. He died in 1869. 

Maine enjoys the honor of having furnished a vice-presi- 
dent to the United States, in the person of Hannibal Hamlin. 
Mr. Hamlin was born at Paris in 1809, made his mark at the 

bar, and, after serving in the 
legislature of his native state 
and in the lower house of 
Congress, was elected in 
1848 to the U. S. Senate. 
Beginning his political ca- 
reer as a democrat, when the 
slavery issue arose he joined 
the republican party. In 
1857 he became governor of 
Maine, but resigned that 
office on a re-election to the 
Senate — and in turn re- 
signed the senatorship to be- 
come vice-president during the first term of Mr. Lincoln. 
Throughout the Civil War he was, ^vith his state, the firm 
supporter of the Union. In 1869 Mr. Hamlin was again 
elected to the Senate. 

James G. Blaine, a prominent republican, who had been 
speaker of the House of Representatives and had been urged 
as a candidate for the presidency in 1876, was in 1877 cho- 
sen Mr. Hamlin's colleague in the Senate. 

Education. — An excellent system of public schools offers 
the blessings of free education to all between the ages of 
four and twenty-one. There are also about 150 free high 
schools, and two normal schools supported by the state at 
Farmington and Castine. There remain to be mentioned 
Bates College at Lewiston, organized in 1863, and the State 
College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts at Orono. 




■WM. I'lTT FJESSKNDEN. 



ILLrSTRATIVE READING. 383 



REFEBENCE BOOKS AND ARTICLES. 

In connection with the history of New England, the following 
works and articles may be read : — 

History and Biogkapht. — Bryant's Popular History of the U. 
S. ; Palfrey's History of New England ; Hubbard's Indian Wars of 
New England ; Lippincott's Cabinet Histories of the separate states; 
Yarney's Young People's History of Maine ; Prof. E. D. Sanborn's 
History of New Hampshire ; Dr. J. G. Holland's History of West- 
ern Massachusetts ; Greene's Short History of Rhode Island and 
Life of Major General Nathanael Greene ; Cutter's Life of Israel 
Putnam ; De Puy's Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Heroes of 
'76 ; Alexander H. Everett's Life of Joseph Warren, and Francis 
Bowen's Life of Lincoln, in Sparks's American Biography ; articles 
on John Hancock, etc., in Goodrich's Lives of the Signers to the 
Declaration of Independence; Lives of Generals Knox, Sullivan, 
and others, in Headley's Washington and his Generals ; articles on 
Otis and others in Duyckinck's National Portrait Gallery of Distin- 
guished Americans; article on Gov. Andrew in Harriet Beecher 
Stowe's Men of our Times ; Harper's Magazine, vol. 1., p. 777 (The 
Concord Fight)— vol. li., p. 230 (Echoes of Bunker Hill)— vol. Iv., 
p. 511 (The Battle of Bennington) ; Atlantic Monthly, vol. xxxvii., 
p. 466 (The Siege of Boston) ; Life, Eulogy, and Great Orations of 
Daniel Webster. 

PoETKY. — Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish and Paul 
Revere's Ride ; Whittier's Snow-Bonnd, Bridal of Pennacook, and 
Legends of New England ; Oliver Wendell Holmes's Pilgrim's Vi- 
sion and Lexington ; Bryant's Green Mountain Boys ; Joel Barlow's 
Hasty Pudding ; John G. 0. Brainard's verses on the Connecticut 
River; Thomas Dunn English's Battle of Bennington, Harper's 
Mag., vol. xxi., p. 325 ; Alfred B. Street's Battle of Concord. 

Fiction. — Cooper's Lionel Lincoln ; Sylvester Judd's Margaret ; 
Thompson's Green Mountain Boys and Locke Amsden ; Miss Sedg- 
wick's New England Tale ; Harriet Prescott Spofford's New Eng- 
land Legends ; Mrs. Stowe's Poganuc People. 



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